Husni al-Za'im

Husni al-Za'im (1897-14 August 1949) was the President of Syria from 11 April to 14 August 1949, succeeding Shukri al-Kuwatli and preceding Hashim al-Atassi.

Biography
Husni al-Za'im was born in 1897 in Aleppo, Syria to a family of Kurds, and he served in the Ottoman Army and French Army before Syrian independence was achieved. He became Chief-of-Staff of the Syrian Army and led it during the First Arab-Israeli War against Israel in 1948, and the defeat in the war allowed for al-Za'im to seize power from the unpopular government in a CIA-backed coup. The coup shattered Syria's democracy, leading to two more coups in August and December. In August, General Sami al-Hinnawi had Za'im overthrown in a coup and executed alongside Prime Minister Muhsin al-Barazi in front of Barazi's son.